July 2025 Welcome to the IC of Bolivia! We are very pleased to announce that the creation of the new IC of Bolivia was formally approved at our AGM in July and warmly welcome their members to our IC community. Bolivia celebrates a rich tennis history, which started with the arrival of British and North American immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century, who worked in railroad construction and mining and began practising the sport in mines at Uyuni and Oruro. The Bolivian Tennis Federation (FBT) was founded on 24 March 1937 in Catavi (Potosí) with the aim of organizing and promoting tennis, and is now affiliated with the ITF and the South American Tennis Confederation. Today, there are around 16,000 active tennis players in Bolivia. Nearly 10,000 of these are ranked in the National Federation, and 12 players have also been ranked within the ATP or WTA. The country has 32 clubs spread across nine ‘departamentos’, including three centenary clubs: National Tennis Club Oruro, Tennis Club La Paz and Cochabamba Tennis Club. Other major clubs are in Santa Cruz and other cities, including Sucre and Tarija. The clubs have served as meeting places for people of different backgrounds and have promoted values such as discipline, respect and teamwork. Discussions around the creation of the IC of Bolivia started at the IC Centenary celebrations at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in August 2024 – which were followed up with approaches to professional players to secure their support. At the start of 2025, the founding team worked alongside the IC Council and members of the ICs of Argentina and Uruguay to create the statutes for a new IC of Bolivia, and held a founding day with their 19 founding members to establish the Constitution on 1 March in La Paz. The founders presented their plans at the IC AGM on 6 July and the creation of the IC of Bolivia was formally approved. From this point, the board of the IC of Bolivia plan to: Hold their first AGM Onboard around 20-30 new members Set up a philanthropic programme that will offer tennis coaching for disadvantaged children in key cities around Bolivia Start the organisation of an IC of Bolivia Invitational event for 2026 – working with the ICs of Argentina and Uruguay Work with the IC Council to create the IC of Bolivia website and social media pages. Please join us in welcoming the IC of Bolivia to our IC community! Previous Article Meet a member: Antonia Lottner, IC of Germany
January 2017 What to look forward to in 2017 After a successful year of fixtures and events in 2016, the IC Council and ICs of the World are now gearing up for another full year of fixtures for IC members across the board. Key anniversary celebrations include; IC of Belgium’s 70th anniversary, IC of Germany’s 50th anniversary, IC of Bulgaria 10th anniversary and IC of Barbados 10th anniversary which will be officially celebrated in 2018. Below is a round up of the ‘official IC events’, including the Compass Junior Challenge Regional Events. Further information for each nation’s fixtures, can be found on their individual web pages. Away from the court, the IC website is being rejuvenated and will include improved capabilities on tablets and mobiles. These updates and modernisation will then be transferred across to individual IC pages throughout the year – watch this space… 2017 IC Calendar 4th Bi-annual ‘Deltec Bank & Trust’ Bahamas IC Doubles Week 8th-13th January Bahamas BLTA National Tennis Centre Competing nations – The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, USA, and an International team Format - men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles Men’s and Ladies Potter Cup 1st-4th June LXIII Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya and LXIII Campionat Internacional de Catalunya de Veterans, Barcelona, Spain After the 2016 Ladies Potter Cup invitational exhibition event, 2017 will be the year of the inaugural Ladies Potter Cup Format – 5 singles and 2 doubles for over 45s CQS Nations Cup 14th-18th June Prague, Czech Republic Format – men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles Robert Abdesselam Trophy 23rd-25th June Madrid, Spain Format – 1 men’s doubles, 1 ladies doubles and 2 mixed doubles. Teams include 1 lady over 50, 1 man and lady over 55 and 1 man over 65 Compass European Junior Challenge 3rd-8th July Brussels, Belgium Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 European Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals IC Council AGM 9th July National Tennis Centre, Roehampton, GB Annual IC Council AGM is once again hosted at the GB National Tennis Centre on the middle Sunday of The Wimbledon Championships V Tennis Golf Challenge Date TBC Mallorca, Spain Format – combination of tennis and golf fixtures Compass African Junior Challenge Date TBC South Africa Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 African Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Compass North American Junior Challenge Date TBC Mexico Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 North American Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Compass South American Junior Challenge Date TBC Nation TBC Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 South American Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Juego de Pelota 2nd-6th August Brussels, Belgium IC of Belgium’s 70th anniversary celebratory events Format –2 men over 70 and 2 men over 75, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category IC Week - Windmill Trophy and Mercelis Trophy 16th-20th August Berlin, Germany IC of Germany’s 50th anniversary celebratory events Windmill Trophy – 2 men under 45, 2 men over 45 and one playing or non-playing captain, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category Mercelis Trophy – 1 lady under 40, 1 lady over 40 and one playing or non-playing captain, competing in 2 singles and 1 doubles in each age category La Carreta 20-24th September Sofia, Bulgaria IC of Bulgaria’s 10th anniversary celebratory events Format – Ladies singles and doubles comprising of 1 lady over 50, 1 lady over 60 and 1 playing or non-playing captain Compass Asia/ Oceania Junior Challenge 7th-9th October Pune, India Format – adult captain, 2 junior boys and 2 junior girls The winners of the 2017 Asia/ Oceania Regional event will go through to compete in the 2018 Compass IC Junior Challenge Finals Previous Article Paul Hutchins is awarded an MBE Next Article La Carreta entries now open